Good thing Jessie Diggins has perspective. Sure, it doesn’t hurt that she’s only 19, with plenty more international racing in her future, including a trip to the 2011 World Ski Championships later this winter. But still, some athletes would be bitter, disappointed, or downright pissed off to crash out of contention in a big race they had a shot at winning. Not Diggins, who picked herself up after a broken pole in the first kilometer...
Alexander Panzhinskiy’s skiing in the U-23 Championships classic sprint wasn’t the dominating performance that everyone anticipated—at least, not until the finals. After skiing to tactical wins in his quarter- and semifinal heats in Otepaa, Estonia, Panzhinskiy, an Olympic silver medalist from Vancouver, unleashed a fury in the final round. After stretching out the heat from the beginning, his colossal double-pole finish consigned Norwegians Timo Andre Bakken and Magnus Moholt to silver and bronze. In the...
The North American performance in Saturday’s U-23 classic sprint certainly wasn’t embarassing. Behind a dominating victory by Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen, Canada’s Alysson Marshall was 12th, cracking the semifinals for her first time as a U-23. And the U.S.’s Sadie Bjornsen was 11th in the prelim, ahead of one of the podium finishers. But none of the three American women who qualified for the heats in Otepaa, Estonia, made it past the quarterfinals, and there was...
A mix of impressive strength, clever tactics and luck took a Canadian man all the way to the finals of Saturday’s U-23 World Championships classic sprint. It just wasn’t the one everyone expected. Instead of the lanky 6’6” frame of Len Valjas gunning for a medal in Otepaa, Estonia, it was the perfectly average one of Jesse Cockney, who showed in a strong outing that what he lacks in height, he makes up with ski...
One year ago, it was an American, Simi Hamilton, who topped the men’s skate sprint prelim at the U-23 World Championships in Germany. In this season’s edition, Canada’s Len Valjas couldn’t quite match that feat, but he came darn close. In Saturday’s classic sprint qualifier in Estonia, he was second, within a half-second of Olympic silver medalist Alexander Panzhinskiy of Russia, the winner. The finish sets up Valjas well for a run at a medal...
Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov was 100 yards away and three minutes from the start of his own classic sprint final when his teammate Elena Soboleva crashed out of the front of the women’s race. Rather than collecting a medal, Soboleva was last in the heat, leaving it up to Ustiugov to cash in. And cash in he did, overpowering Norway’s Sondre Fossli and his own teammate Gleb Retivykh on the homestretch to take World Junior Championships...
Sure, sprinting is sprinting. But try telling that to Russia’s Elena Soboleva and Germany’s Hanna Kolb. The two were all but guaranteed medals in Friday’s classic sprint at the World Junior Championships when both went for the same track, taking a tumble that cost them the race. As the two struggled to untangle their skis and poles, Kolb’s teammate Lucia Anger skied by with two Norwegians, Kari Oeyre Slind and Ragnhild Haga. Those three took...
For the North Americans, Thursday morning’s classic sprint qualifier was a day of inches and almosts. Out of 15 U.S. and Canadian starters at the World Junior Championships in Estonia, just three cracked the top 30 and qualified for the afternoon heats: Erik Bjornsen (USA) in an impressive 10th, and Canada’s Janelle Greer and Heidi Widmer in 20th and 27th, respectively. But two more were painfully close, and ended up occupying the dreaded 31st position:...
The question may not have been burning on Thursday, but at the very least, it was smoldering: Would any of the junior men attempt to double-pole Friday’s classic sprint? At last weekend’s World Cup races on the same course in Otepaa, Estonia, Norway’s Eirik Brandsdal double-poled through his qualifier and all three heats to edge out his teammate, Ola Vigen Hattestad, for the win. Only a handful of others tried the maneuver in the preliminary,...
If one of the races at the 2011 World U-23 Championships was a foregone conclusion, it was probably the women’s 10 k freestyle. The top-seeded athlete on Thursday’s start list in Otepaa, Estonia was Finnish powerhouse Krista Lahteenmaki, a World Cup silver medalist—and the results were predictable. In an effort that serves as a stark benchmark for the rest of the U-23 women, Lahteenmaki skied to the win by a full minute over Russia’s Mariya...
When Britain’s Andrew Musgrave came through the stadium leading the first lap of the 15 k freestyle on Thursday, it was clear that it was going to be a good day for Anglophones at the U-23 Championships in Otepaa, Estonia—even if the Russian team ultimately swept the podium. Musgrave lost his early lead, but still held on for sixth place, and was joined in the top 10 by Canadian Kevin Sandau and American Noah Hoffman...
Without further adieu, we give you the follow-up to the 10 juniors to watch that we listed this morning. Below are 10 athletes with chances for medals at the U-23 World Championships in Otepaa, Estonia, which begin Thursday with a 10/15 k freestyle. Karel Tammjarv Estonia’s two male cross-country skiing legends—Jaak Mae and Andrus Veerpalu—are in the twilight of their careers. Tammjarv, a 21-year-old, is the nation’s next great hope. He was fifth in the...
Even by Norway’s standards, four out of six ain’t bad. After the country’s women swept the podium in the World Junior Championships 5 k freestyle on Wednesday morning, Sindre Bjoernestad Skar collected the country’s fourth medal of the day by winning the men’s 10 k event, topping Germany’s Markus Weeger and Finland’s Perttu Hyvarinen. With the first of seven events down in Otepaa, Estonia, Norway is in possession of two-thirds of the hardware. While Skar...
Last winter, Jessie Diggins was just another up-and-coming American cross-country skier. At U.S. Nationals, she raced to a solid-but-unspectacular ninth place in the classic sprint, and at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Germany, her top finish was a 25th place, in the 10 k pursuit. What a difference a year makes. After collecting her first national title earlier this month, and only a couple of days removed from illness, Diggins placed seventh in the...
One of the best things about the World Junior and U-23 Championships is the potential for surprises. Sure, sometimes there are upsets on the World Cup, like last weekend’s victories by Eldar Roenning and Eirik Brandsdal in Otepaa, Estonia. But even if those wins were unexpected, they still came from familiar names—both Roenning and Brandsdal are regulars on the circuit. At World Juniors and U-23’s, which kick off Wednesday, there are likely to be title-winning...
For U.S. ski fans, this year’s World Junior and U-23 Championships, which begin Wednesday in Estonia, have the potential to be pretty sweet. On paper, the American squad is as good as any from the last five years, and deeper, too. No fewer than five of its athletes will go on to compete at the World Ski Championships in Oslo later this winter. With Estonia experiencing one of its best winters in years, and two...
Estonia has been good to Canada’s Dasha Gaiazova. One year after notching a career-best 12th place in the Otepaa classic sprint, Gaiazova did herself four places better in the same event on Sunday, finishing fourth in her semifinal heat and eighth overall. The result netted Gaiazova $750, and a big confidence boost as she heads home to prepare for the 2011 World Championships in Oslo. The racing in Otepaa wrapped up an exceptional two-week stint...
Cue the crowd and the rock music: Petra Majdic (SLO) has won another World Cup sprint race. After leading wire-to-wire in Sunday’s classic sprint final in Otepaa, Estonia, Majdic repeated a raucous celebration that is quickly becoming her trademark—taking her third win of the year with gusto over Sweden’s Hanna Brodin and Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla. Canada’s Dasha Gaiazova skied to eighth, her career-best finish in an individual World Cup, after coming from last in...
Just seven months after knee surgery, Norway’s Eirik Brandsdal had no business gunning for the podium in a classic sprint in late January. But knees were all but unnecessary in Sunday’s race in Estonia, which saw every single one of the six men in the finals forgoing kick wax on a tame course. Brandsdal rode his skate gear to third place in qualifying, two seconds behind his teammate Ola Vigen Hattestad, then just pipped Hattestad...
In the classic sprint qualifier in Otepaa, Estonia on Sunday morning, it was all about big guns. Norway and Sweden each qualified six men for the heats, and Estonia five. But by big guns, we don’t mean the strong ski nations—we’re talking about biceps. At least three Norwegians double poled the full qualifier, one of whom, Ola Vigen Hattestad, was the winner. Eirik Brandsdal and Eldar Roenning also completed the qualifier on skate gear. According...